The Coyotes were hammered in the first, falling behind 3-0, then rallied but still trailed 4-3 going into the final 20 minutes. In the end, they won the third -- and capped their comeback with a 5-4 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings in front of 10,842 at Jobing.com Arena.

Radim Vrbata's second goal of the game, and his 30th of the season, came on a power play with 2:27 remaining in regulation tied it at 4, and Mikkel Boedker had the winning goal in the shootout, which lasted three rounds.

"It's a good learning experience because you have a team ... we knew they were going to come in and come right after us, and I certainly didn't like our response at the start," Tippett said. "We were slow to pucks, we were non-competitive in battles."

All that changed after the first 20 minutes, and that propelled the Coyotes to 69 points, tying them for the top spot in the Pacific Division with San Jose, although the Sharks have two games in hand.

Goaltender Mike Smith extended his win streak to eight games, overcoming a slow start, although two of the goals he allowed came on deflections.

The Coyotes took advantage of late penalties.

Keith Yandle was called for roughing, and Kyle Clifford was given a 10-minute match penalty for a shoulder hit to the head of Gilbert Brule. After the 4-on-4 expired, the Coyotes were on a three-minute power play, setting the stage for Vrbata.

Shane Doan also scored twice for the Coyotes, and Martin Hanzal had three assists, tying a career high, all in the second period.

"I think it's huge," Doan said of the win. "It's one of those ones you're down 3-0 to a team we have to find a way to (beat), and obviously we weren't happy with the first, but to really and come back like we did ... our power play was huge."

The Coyotes were last in the NHL on the power play entering the game but scored three times in short-handed situations.

A win such as this one, Tippett said, could have a lasting effect.

"You hope it does because it continues to build the belief system that you can win, and you can win when things are going well, and you can win when there's some adversity in front of you," he said.

"So there's some good learning experiences there, and we're going to need that."

Yandle said it "absolutely" was the best win of the season.

"I think it shows a lot about our team, and the way that we've been playing of late," he said. "I mean, at the beginning of the year we were losing games in the last minutes or in overtime.

"Lately, we've been finding a way to play good hockey and come together, and it's been fun."

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View from the press box

The Coyotes 'dormant power play came to life, scoring three times. It was another byproduct of the comeback win, and something that could prove to be a huge factor down the stretch if they can keep it up.